The GELLAB-II software system is an exploratory data analysis system for theanalysis of sets of 2D electrophoretic protein gel images. It incorporatessophisticated subsystems for image acquisition, processing, database manipulation, graphics and statistical analysis. It has been applied to a variety of experimental systems in which quantitative and qualitative changes,in one or more proteins among hundreds or thousands of unaltered proteins, isthe basic analytic problem. Keeping track of changes detected using thesemethods is also a major attribute of the system. A composite gel database maybe viewed under different exploratory data analysis conditions, andstatistical differences and subtle patterns elucidated from slicesof an effective 3D database. Results can be presented in a variety of tables,plots or derived images and on workstations over wide area networks. TheGELLAB-II research has resulted in a technology transfer CRADA withCSPI/Scanalytics Inc., for a commercially available system GELLAB-II+, makingthis technology easily available to cancer researchers on inexpensive MicrosoftWindows PCs (released in 1996). Such commercialization resulted in wider use and better support of the GELLAB-II technology than we can provide. GELLAB-IIapplications this period include: Ongoing studies of nuclear matrix proteinchanges in prostate cancer to aid screening and staging of men with prostate cancer (J.Hopkins); and extending an earlier Rett syndrome study (CDC) RobinsonMK, Myrick J, etal., Electrophoresis 16: 1176-83, 1995. In the prostate cancerstudies, we are looking for both missing proteins as well as subtle quantitativechanges in patterns on sets of proteins which correlates with experimental conditions, staging and screening of men with prostate cancer. We are also doing a similar investigation of nuclear matrix protein patterns from renal cellcarcinoma and other genitourinary tissues. The Hopkins groups prostate molecular work has identified several of the protein spots by sequence analysisand are completing studies to confirm these sequences. Z01 BC 08381-16 - Chromatin Structure, databases, electrophoresis, gene expression, image analysis, Prostate cancer,